sustainability

ME Group launches consulting division

Pete Jefferson

Pete Jefferson

M.E. Group has started a new division within the firm that will help its clients drive innovation and create solutions to building challenges. Called Forte Building Science, the division will provide the firm’s building physics, commissioning, occupant experience, and certification services.

Led by local team members and long-time principals and owners Nate Maniktala and Pete Jefferson, the group consists of a diversity of expertise, including architects, professional engineers, social scientists, TAB and controls professionals and sustainability consultants. Together, they hope to overcome challenges related to energy performance, health and wellness, resiliency, and sustainability.

“Building science is an evidence-based approach to understanding the physical behavior of the building as a system,” Jefferson said. “We work side by side with project teams to use this understanding to inform decision-making throughout conceptual design, construction or occupancy. We believe that implementing a scientific approach brings greater certainty and therefore greater sustainability.”

Nate Maniktala

Nate Maniktala

Forte Building Science has already landed a handful of clients including HKS, Perkins Eastman, Kansas State University, Prologis, University of Nebraska, and CHI Health.

“At Forte Building Science, our goal is to make delivering innovative buildings easier for designers, builders and owners,” Maniktala said. “Whether by facilitating design with our analysis, preventing building failures through commissioning, or validating goals with industry certifications. We are able to leverage our unique skills to help our clients achieve the results they seek with greater ease.”

For more information on the new division, click here.

BNIM looks outside KCMO for new living HQ project

BNIM looks outside KCMO for new living HQ project

BNIM is striving to create a new headquarters that will meet some of the most stringent building standards on the planet today. Although years of work were poured into a comprehensive $9.4 million plan for a potential new home at 1640 Main in the Crossroads Arts District, the city ultimately rejected a $2.5 million incentive package that would have made the project possible.